An Unlikely Alliance
by Splattifying Agent 2
Summary: Tori meets someone who she didn't expect to see again. Rated T for language and mild violence.
1. Chapter 1

**[A/N] Still trying to get through some of these requests! Here's another one from my good friend Chris PH (and also sort of from my other good friend, InsomniousNights).**

 **Michael belongs to InsomniousNights.**

Tori dashed through the ink covering her side of Bluefin Depot. The team was losing ground, and she had to help gain it back. They weren't doing too well.

She popped out of the ink in the center of the stage and started taking back the turf that was claimed by their opponents. She made sure to avoid the enemy team's charger; the girl was a crack shot like Tori had never seen before.

In fact, all four of their opponents were dangerous in their own way. Tori would've preferred to just stay away from them, but she knew her team couldn't necessarily handle them, so fight she would.

In fact, the one wielding the Slosher was coming her way. This would be a perfect opportunity to get a splat under her belt. She hid in her ink until the guy was close…

When he was close enough, she dashed out of her ink. As she was aiming her weapon, she accidentally slammed into him and fell backward on her behind. _Dammit_ , she thought.

She looked up and got a quick glance at his face before he splatted her.

What she saw stunned her as she was returned to her base. It stayed in the back of her mind until the end of the match, and the score was tallied.

Unsurprisingly, Tori's team lost. "Better luck next time," one of her teammates muttered. She wasn't really listening. She was trying to get a good look at the Inkling with the Slosher.

As it turned out, she didn't have to. He approached her first. "Hey," he said with a little grin. "You weren't half bad out there."

She didn't say anything. The boy kept talking.

"So, uh… I haven't seen an Octoling around here before. Are you new in town?"

"I've lived in Inkopolis for about a year and a half now, actually," Tori replied. She kept her tone neutral. His eyebrows went up.

"Oh, that's cool," he said casually. "By the way, I'm-"

"I know exactly who you are, _Agent 3_ ," Tori interrupted. She couldn't help a bit of venom seeping into her voice.

Agent 3's expression sobered a little. "Well, my _name_ is Michael."

"Don't care," Tori said. "I've got nothing to say to you." She turned to leave.

"Hey, hey, hold on," Michael said. He fell in step beside her. "I don't know what your problem is, but-"

"My _problem_?!" Tori asked. "My _problem_ is that you _slaughtered_ too many of my friends and allies to count! You're the reason no one ever came back! And I don't want a damn thing to do with you!" She shook a little, and tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "Just leave me alone!"

Tori didn't realize that she started shouting until she saw the looks of those around her, and she ran off. Michael found himself staring after her, a little dazed from what just happened.

{asterisks}

Jake had a party in another part of town, so Tori found herself alone in the apartment when the phone rang. She picked it up on the second chime. "Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Tori," said a voice. She recognized it as Michael's.

"How did you- what did- how do you know my name?" Tori sputtered in surprise.

"You're in the Turf War League," he explained. "It's all public information. Setting up squads, you kn-"

She didn't let him finish, and slammed the phone in his ear.

Less than a minute later, it rang again. She picked it up once again, a little more warily. "Hello?"

"That was pretty rude, y'know," Michael protested. "I just wanted to-"

She slammed it again.

It didn't take much longer for the phone to ring once more. She ignored it, and walked over to Jake's little portable speaker to put on some music – some old human band that Jake liked. She could never remember their name – Baboons? Macaques? Some kind of animal she'd never seen.

The phone eventually stopped ringing, but Tori kept the music on anyway. She only turned it off when there was a knock on the door, and, guessing that it was Jake, she went over to open it.

That should've been her first clue, she later realized. Jake had his key on him and he would've let himself in.

As it were, she opened the door and saw him yet again.

"Y'know, you should really try to remember your manners," Michael drawled. "Most people hang up the phone _after_ they're finished talking."

Tori stared at him in disbelief, and moved to close the door. Michael stopped it with both hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I wanna talk to you," he said. "I know some stuff that you should hear!"

"And I don't wanna hear it!" Tori told him. "Shove off or I'll make you!" She couldn't quite get the door closed, and eventually it swung open again.

"So will you talk to me yet?" he asked.

"Answer some questions first," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "How did you get my address?"

"When you ran off earlier, this is the direction you were heading in. I just put two and two together and came up with four." He grinned a little. "Didn't know which apartment you were in, though. I had to do a bit of trial-and-error on that one."

Tori wrinkled her nose.

"So, as I was saying," Michael continued. "I've got some information that you need to know."

She narrowed her eyes. "Fine. You might as well come in."

He watched her with a sly grin. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."

"Yeah, well, people talk," she replied. "I don't want anyone seeing you hanging around the doorway for too long."

Michael's mouth quirked, and he stepped inside and took a seat on the couch. Tori watched him, and took a seat on the chair opposite him.

"So what's this important information you've got?" she asked coldly.

He pulled a folded little piece of paper out of his pocket and passed it to her. "You should probably read it for yourself," he said. "I couldn't do it justice."

Tori stared at him for a moment, and took the paper. She unfolded it and something immediately caught her eye. "That's the Octarian Army insignia."

"My friends and I did a bit of a raid a while ago," Michael said. "Long story. But that's one of the things I found."

Tori started reading the paper. Her eyes got wider as she got further down the page.

"No way…" she whispered. "This can't be true…"

"But it is," Michael replied.

"That's impossible… if… why wouldn't anyone tell us?"

"My theory is for propaganda," Michael said.

"But how can working respawn pads be used for propaganda?"

"Think about it," Michael told her. "If you think everyone's dead, then that'll generate more hate for the Inklings, and make more ruthless warriors. Right?"

Tori thought about that for a moment. "So everyone's still alive? That's what you're telling me?"

"If they're gone, I know I didn't do it," Michael said truthfully.

"Okay, but…" Tori drew in a shuddering breath. This was a lot to take in. "What about the power crisis in the valley?"

Michael's smile faded. "Well…"

"They might… they might still be gone," she said.

Michael stared at her for a moment. She was thinking hard.

"Well, the solution is obvious, isn't it?" she said, more to herself than him. "I have to go."

"Go?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I have to find out what really happened," Tori said. "For myself."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't just go in there by yourself," Michael protested.

"You're right."

Their heads snapped toward the doorway.

"You're damn right," Jake said. "I'm going with her." Tori grinned.

"Don't count me outta this either," Michael said.

Jake crossed his arms across his chest. "And why's that?"

Michael got up off the couch. "Because I know you could use a little extra firepower. They might not be able to hurt your girlfriend here, but she can't hurt them either, and I know the Octarians have some damn good shots. Like it or not, you'll need someone to watch your back." He jabbed his finger against Jake's chest.

Jake stared him down for a second.

"Face it, big guy," Michael told him. "You need me."

Jake's eyes narrowed. "Fine. But if you aren't in Octo Valley tomorrow at eight in the morning, we're leaving without you."

Michael's mouth crooked up in a grin. "Consider it done. I can get some friends in here too. The more, the merrier, right?"

Jake shook his head. "Not happening. This is an infiltration mission, not an invasion."

"Gotcha, boss-man," Michael said. "Tomorrow, I'm coming alone." He rushed out the door. Jake watched him leave before turning back to Tori.

"We can do this," he said confidently. "We'll get in and out and nobody will even know we were there."

"Shouldn't you be saving the pep talk?" she asked with a grin. "We aren't heading out yet."

"I know that. But raising spirits never hurt anyone. Now c'mon, we need to rest up."

 **[A/N] What is this? A multi-chapter story? I still do those? Apparently. Last time that happened was over a year ago, but hey, apparently it still happens.**

 **I'm not exactly sure where this one is going to lead, actually. I'm just gonna write and see where this takes me. It should be fun.**


	2. Chapter 2

**[A/N] Work is keeping my schedule busy, but I will press on! I'm excited about this one.**

 **Also, emmz20 asked a question in a couple of other stories. You've got PMs off (for some reason), so I'll address this right here. My stories take place in two different universes, and that's the reason for the discrepancy. If you need to know exactly which stories are in which universe, that information is in my profile.**

Jake tapped his foot impatiently. "He's late."

"We haven't even been here a minute yet," Tori reminded him.

"I told him," Jake began. Tori felt a rant coming on. "I told him eight o'clock. He isn't here."

"It's eight-oh-two," Tori said, exasperated. "Give him time."

Jake grumbled under his breath as Michael popped out of the grate. He wore his Hero Suit.

"Rise and shine," he said. "You two ready?"

Jake shot him a glare. "You better have a damn good reason for being late." Tori rolled her eyes.

Michael raised one eyebrow, and glanced at his watch. "What are you talking about? It's eight."

"Eight-oh-three," Jake corrected.

Michael shrugged. "Potato, potahto," he said. "Anyway, I happen to have something you might want." He pulled an Octoshot Replica out.

Jake narrowed his eyes. "What's that for?"

"Gee, boss-man, I thought you'd know," Michael teased. "Infiltration mission, right? I figure we get your girlfriend here to act like she's taken us hostage." He fished a pair of Octoling Goggles out as well. "And she can wear these, too."

"Already covered," Tori said, holding up her own pair. "These are genuine, too."

Jake looked back and forth between the two of them. "And here I thought I was prepared… gimme a second." He disappeared into Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack, and came out a moment later with his own Hero Suit. He started making careful rips in the material.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked curiously.

"If it looks like you beat us in a fight, it'll make the whole capturing story more convincing," Jake explained. Michael nodded and started doing the same as Tori hooked up the Octoshot to her ink tank.

Soon, they were done, and trekking across the valley.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Jake asked.

"HQ, as far as I can tell," Tori said. "I got considered for a promotion once, and this is where they took me. With any luck, they're still using it."

Michael didn't respond. He held his weapon defensively, keeping his ears open.

The walk continued in near silence. Following Tori's lead, they Super Jumped off to new areas every once in a while. After a few hours of this, Michael stepped in front and held up one hand. "Hold it."

"What is it?" Tori asked.

"Are we getting close?"

"Yeah. It's just ahead."

"We need cover."

There was a twisted metal structure close by, and the three of them hid behind it. Michael peeked out behind it.

"Guards. Four of them," he muttered. "We ready?"

Jake and Tori nodded in response, and Tori took both of their weapons. She put the goggles on and the three of them stepped out, with the boys in front and Tori in the back, aiming her weapon in their direction.

The guards happened to be Twintacle Octotroopers. They stared suspiciously at the trio for a moment before Tori spoke up.

"Reporting with a pair of hostages," she said in a flat voice. "Requesting access for interrogation and assessment."

The guards shared a look and stepped aside, opening the way to the kettle. Tori entered first, and the boys followed close behind.

Meanwhile, another figure watched their entrance from behind the metal structure. As the trio swam through the kettle, the figure threw a Burst Bomb to catch the guard's attention. As the Octotroopers investigated the source of the explosion, the figure dashed forward without a sound and entered the kettle.

[asterisks]

They popped out at the other end and landed in a dimly lit hallway.

"This seems awfully familiar," Michael said.

"Keep your voice down," Tori said. "This place is gonna be crawling with Octarians. Don't say a word, or someone will get suspicious."

The two nodded in response, and they started their trek down the hallways.

They occasionally passed other Octarians in the halls, mostly Octolings. Tori tried to keep her breathing steady.

She wasn't exactly sure what it was she was looking for; all she knew about the geography of the place was that it was huge. It would take quite some time to find any area with respawn pads.

Even then, she didn't know exactly what she'd do. She thought to herself that she probably should've come up with more of a plan for that sort of thing than she did.

As she was pondering this, an Elite Octoling came stalking down the hall. Tori snapped her eyes straight ahead, even though she knew no one could see them. Just as they were about to pass one another, the Octoling said two words. "Hold it."

Everyone froze in place. Tori turned her head toward the Octoling.

"What's going on here, private?" the Octoling asked harshly. "I wasn't informed of any sort of hostage situation."

Try as she might, Tori couldn't quite remember who this person was. She kept her tone neutral as she replied. "My squadron and I found and disarmed these two. I was elected to bring them back here for interrogation."

The Elite Octoling narrowed her eyes. "Why weren't they splatted on the spot?"

"See for yourself, captain," Tori said, with a short jerk of her head in Michael's direction.

The Octoling walked in front of Michael and stared him down. He returned her gaze just as sharply. After a moment, her eyes widened in recognition.

"This is Agent 3," she said, apparently unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. "Unbelievable… Oh, you will be very… very interesting."

"Bite me," Michael spat.

The Elite Octoling let out a cruel laugh. "I will do much worse than that. By the time I'm finished with you, you will be begging for your end to come."

Michael's gaze never wavered. The Octoling moved on to Jake. "I don't recognize this one."

"He was found working with Agent 3," Tori said. "A new recruit, perhaps."

The Octoling gave Jake a hard gaze. "Hmm… this is good information indeed. Good job, private. Keep it up and a promotion may be in order. What name do I pass on?"

Tori hesitated for a moment, trying to think of a fake name to give her. "Cail," she finally supplied.

"Private Cail, good," the Octoling said. "I'll put in a word." She started to walk off in the other direction.

Tori started to continue when she turned around. "Private!"

"Yes, captain!" Tori said.

"You've never been in here before, have you? The interrogation area is the other way."

"Ah… thank you, captain."

"You know, I'm heading that way myself. I'll take you there. Never know when you'll need an extra pair of eyes on these scum." The Octoling waited for Tori to catch up before they continued on their walk.

It continued mainly in silence. Tori couldn't stop herself from peaking into any open doors that she saw.

"Impressed?" the Octoling asked.

"Yes, captain," Tori replied.

"We may be of the same rank soon," she continued. "Call me Alanis."

Tori froze in place. She finally realized who this person was. Stories she heard when she was still a part of the army began to run through her head.

Alanis, Jake, and Michael looked back at her. "What's wrong, Cail?" Alanis asked.

"N-nothing, captain," Tori said shakily. "I-I mean, Lieutenant… ah, Alanis! I'm sorry!"

Alanis chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Cail. Now come with me."

Tori quickly caught up again, trying to keep her breathing steady. She kept her mouth shut for the rest of the walk.

It didn't take them much longer for them to reach the interrogation area. Alanis gave Tori a pat on the back. "I'll leave you to it, Cail," she said, and left the room.

Tori whispered to the boys frantically. "Guys, what do we do?"

"What's wrong? Who the hell _was_ that?" Jake asked.

"Lieutenant Alanis is the highest-ranked Octarian in the army," Tori said. "The only one who's higher than her is DJ Octavio. She's absolutely ruthless, and she hates Inklings more than you guys could comprehend."

Jake pondered that. "Well, that complicates things a little," he said.

"We have to get out of this room _now_ ," Tori hissed. "Come on."

"If she sees that we aren't here, we'll all be in huge trouble," Michael warned.

"I'll come up with something," Tori said. "We have to leave here. Now _come on!_ "

They didn't waste any time leaving the room. Tori peaked her head out the door, making sure no one was coming, and started sprinting down the halls. Jake and Michael followed behind her, moving as quietly as they could.

"This is a terrible plan…" Jake muttered. "This is never gonna work…"

"I know," Michael replied. "But I know you'd rather not leave her alone."

Jake silently conceded his point, and they continued following Tori.

{asterisks}

Alanis made her way toward the conference room. She could only imagine what Cail would have in store for those two Inklings. A cruel smile spread across her face.

Soon, she entered the conference room. Alanis found herself facing a male Octoling in a dapper suit. "Hello there," she said.

The man watched her and nodded. "Lieutenant. What is it today?"

"I met a private today," Alanis explained. "She had quite the accomplishment. I want the board to consider her for a promotion."

The Octoling raised his eyebrows. "Interesting. What was this accomplishment."

Alanis smiled. "She's captured Agent 3 and his accomplice."

His eyes widened. "Well! That's quite impressive! What's her name?"

"Cail."

The Octoling turned around and started typing on a little laptop. After a moment, he frowned. "Are you sure?"

Alanis frowned back. "Quite sure. Why?"

"I can't seem to find that name."

"Impossible. I just met her."

"See for yourself if you like." He swiveled the laptop toward her.

Alanis watched the screen. There were no results.

"Why would… then what happened?"

"I believe you may have been had," the Octoling said.

Alanis narrowed her eyes. "Then I have someone I need to talk to."

{asterisks}

"Shh!" Michael hissed. "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah," Tori replied. "Someone's laughing."

"We should stay outta there."

"No, wait," Tori said. She listened for a second. "I think I know that voice."

"Should we go?" Jake asked.

"If it's who I think it is, we should be fine," Tori said. She sprinted after the noise. The boys followed her.

She peeked into the room.

"Is it who you thought it was?" Jake hissed.

"Yup," Tori said. She smiled and entered, removing her goggles.

Someone screamed, and a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her forward.


	3. Chapter 3

This was proving to be a bit more difficult than expected.

She tried to stay in squid form and stick to the shadows, and it worked for a while, but the building was crawling with Octarians, even more than she expected. This was getting very frustrating.

 _Where are you, Michael?_ she thought to herself. She rounded what felt like the millionth corner…

...and found herself face-to-face with an Elite Octoling.

The Octoling narrowed her eyes. "And what, exactly, are _you_ doing here?"

She didn't bother to give an answer to the Octoling. She simply hit her head with the butt of her weapon, dropped a Burst Bomb at her feet, and sprinted past her.

Yes, this certainly complicated things quite a bit.

Behind her, a loud whooping alarm began to sound. "Dammit," she muttered.

Looks like she'd have to hurry up a little.

{asterisks}

Jake raised his weapon and moved to enter the room, but Michael grabbed his shoulder. "Hold it," he hissed.

Jake stared at him in disbelief. "Look, but don't go in," Michael clarified.

Jake took a quick peek into the room. He saw two other Octolings there. They seemed to be talking to Tori. He breathed a sigh of belief. Everything was fine.

"Pip? Lilac?!" she said with a big smile. "Oh, it's been so long!" The three of them shared a group hug.

"Girl, what're you doing here?!" Lilac asked excitedly.

"I could say the same!" Tori replied. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "I missed you two so much…"

Pip gave her a smaller smile. "I wish we could've talked to you, but we've been cooped up in this place for months…"

Tori looked around the room. There were a few other Octolings there. "This is where the respawn pads took you," she realized.

Lilac nodded. "We wanted to tell you, Tori. We really did, but… we couldn't talk to anybody. DJ Octavio told us himself."

Tori shook her head, and watched them with wet eyes. "I don't care… oh, I thought you two were dead… I can't believe this…"

Pip held her tighter in the hug.

Tori opened her mouth to say something else when a horribly loud alarm rang through the room. A voice sounded powerfully across an intercom, which Tori recognized as belonging to Alanis.

"Attention," she said, with a hint of venom in her voice. "All Octoling units, come to the interrogation area immediately. No exceptions." She continued after a pause. "In addition, three Inklings are loose inside this facility. Find them and destroy them all."

Tori barely had time to register what she said before the other Octolings put on their masks and rushed out of the room.

Pip bit her lip. "We should go too."

"No, we can't!" Tori said in a choked voice.

"Why not?" Lilac asked urgently. "If we don't, we'll get in trouble."

Tori debated whether or not to tell them when Jake and Michael burst into the room. "We need to get out of here _now_ ," Jake said.

"We can't," Michael protested. "Someone else is here. We have to help them!"

"If they got in here, they can get out themselves," Jake retorted. "We don't have time to worry about them."

Pip and Lilac stared at them, and both took a step back.

"T-Tori?" Pip said quietly. "Why are they with you?"

She held out one hand toward the other two Octolings. "Wait, wait, wait," she said. "You can't still believe that they're the bad guys!" She gestured to the room they were standing in. "This is all the proof you should need!"

Lilac shook her head. "Tori, that's… you can't just expect us to-"

"Yes, I can!" Tori interrupted. The siren continued blaring. "How long have you two been cooped up in this room? Months? Please! Please come with me!"

Pip started to look unsure, but Lilac shook her head. "We can't. Tori, he may as well have _killed_ us. We can't just go with him!"

"Tori, we don't have time for this," Jake warned. "We need to get going _now_."

She turned to her friends with a pleading look. "Please…" she said.

Pip took a step forward. Lilac looked at her incredulously. "You can't be serious."

"Lilac… she's our friend, and she's right," Pip said in a small voice. "We've been stuck here for so long because of our superiors…"

Lilac stared. "I… I can't side with them. I'm sorry." She leveled an Octoshot in Jake and Michael's direction.

Tori stepped between them. "Then I won't let you do this. You're outnumbered here."

Lilac looked between the four people in front of her and tossed the weapon aside. "Fine." She bowed her head and put on her goggles before running out of the room. Tori stared after her.

Jake tugged on her arm. "Please, Tori."

She shook her head. "Okay."

The four of them ran out of the room, away from the interrogation area.

"Pip, do you know anywhere we can hide?" Tori asked.

"Um…" Pip thought. "There's… a few storage rooms… but I only know one… and it's on the other side of the base…"

Michael swore under his breath. "Aren't all the other Octolings in the interrogation area right now? We should be able to take our pick…"

Jake ducked into a random room. "C'mon," he said.

The others followed him. The room was empty.

"We should be good to catch our breath for a bit," Michael said. He switched to squid form. "I'll watch the door."

Pip quietly chuckled at his voice. She, Jake, and Tori sat down for a rest. Jake massaged his foot.

"I'm not used to all this running…" he muttered.

"So what's been going on here?" Tori asked Pip. "What happened after you got here?"

Pip thought for a second and remembered. "Lilac and I, we were on the same mission when we got splatted. I thought I was done for. And then… I came out of the pad. All the rest of my squad mates were there. Everyone was confused, and then DJ Octavio came in. He said we weren't allowed to talk to anyone else or we'd get exiled. And we couldn't go back to our homes."

Jake and Tori listened intently.

"We weren't allowed to go anywhere but on our missions. It was… lonely. It was nice talking to everyone in the squadron, but I couldn't see any of my other friends. I haven't even been outside in months because there haven't been any missions to complete. I've been sitting in this place for so long…"

She pulled her knees to her chest. Tori put one arm around her. "We can leave now…" she murmured. "We can get out of this place, Pip. You'll get out of here."

Pip returned the hug. Her eyes started watering.

Suddenly, Michael started moving back towards them. "Someone's coming," he squeaked.

Jake looked around for a hiding place. There was a pair of terminals in the corner, and he hauled Michael behind it. Tori and Pip hurried after them, and everyone changed to their respective cephalopod forms and hid.

Footsteps gave away the presence of another person in the room. A voice spoke.

"Come out, come out, little squids," Alanis growled. "I know you're in here."

No one made a single noise. She stalked forward. "Then we'll have to do this the hard way."

It didn't take long for her to reach the terminals. A sadistic grin grew across her face, and she picked up the closest squid, which happened to be Michael. "You can't run away from me. Not you, or any of your friends."

Michael prepared to change back into his humanoid form when he suddenly became acutely aware of a laser sight crawling across the room. A moment later, it hit Alanis, who didn't seem to notice.

Not long after, there was a high-pitched beep. Alanis jerked her head toward the source of the noise, and her eyes widened.

A quiet voice said "They don't have to run," and a powerful jet of cyan ink slammed into Alanis' chest. Her body was dissipated instantly.

The four of them switched back to their humanoid forms and looked toward the doorway.

There was a girl there with an E-Liter in her hands. She lowered it and watched them.

Michael grinned. "Hi, Shelly," he said, and made his way over to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**[A/N] Since I didn't mention it before, Shelly belongs to InsomniousNights as well.**

 **Not sure where it is I'm going with this, but let's hope it's someplace good!**

Shelly didn't immediately respond. She watched them for a moment, and then said "Did you _really_ think I wouldn't notice you were gone?"

"It's good for my ego," Michael replied with a big grin.

"Much as I like this little scene..." Jake interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Michael griped. "Are we good to go?" He looked at Tori quizzically.

"Yeah. I think this is fine," she said.

"Perfect," Michael said. "Let's get out of here." He started to run out of the room when Jake grabbed his arm and pulled him back in.

"Down, boy," he said. "Do we know the way outta here?"

Michael blinked. "Guess not," he said sheepishly.

"Then get your ass back in the room," Jake told him. "It'll be safer to plan something from in here than to just run around aimlessly."

"And I still want an explanation," Shelly added.

Jake jerked his head back toward her. "There. You can't go disappointing your lady friend now."

Michael grumbled a little, but settled down.

"I'll watch the door this time," Jake continued. He turned to Pip and Tori. "Maybe those terminals can tell us something about how to get outta here."

Pip nodded and walked back toward the pair of terminals. Jake took up position by the door, and Tori, Michael, and Shelly took their seats in the middle of the room.

"So how'd you know I was here?" Michael asked Shelly.

She shrugged. "You left this morning and didn't tell anyone. I followed you."

Michael bobbed his head a few times. "Fair enough," he said.

"So get me up to speed," Shelly said. "Why are we all in here?"

Tori and Michael got her caught up on everything that happened - his visit to the apartment, the decision to enter, and everything that had happened to them inside the facility.

Shelly nodded along the whole time. "Okay," she said when it was finished.

"That's all you have to say?" Tori asked incredulously. "'Okay?' That's it?"

"Shelly is a woman of few words," Michael told her. "I'm surprised you got that much out of her, to be honest."

Shelly didn't reply.

"Ooooo-kay!" Tori said. She got up and walked over to the terminals. "Any luck here, Pip?"

"A little," Pip mumbled. "I got a map of the place, but… well, see for yourself."

Tori, Michael, and Shelly all took a look at the map as Pip moved aside.

It was very complicated. The map was barely readable. There were hundreds of interconnecting tunnels in the area, and it looked more like a bowl of spaghetti than a map.

"I can't tell what's what from this," Michael said indignantly. "I can't read a word."

"You don't read Octarian," Tori told him. "Let's see…"

Pip pointed at a flashing dot on the screen. "Here's us," she said. "From here… the exit is right there." She pointed to another area.

"How can you tell?" Michael asked.

"Because this bit here says 'exit,'" Pip replied patiently.

Michael looked away sheepishly.

"That's halfway across the facility," Tori groaned. "More than halfway. How are we ever gonna get there?! There's no way we could remember all those twists and turns!"

"There's gotta be some way we can write it down or something…" Pip muttered.

They mulled that over for a while.

"Could we ink the walls?" Shelly thought out loud.

Everyone looked at her. "How do you mean?" Tori asked.

"Put a bit of ink on the walls when we reach a crossroad," she explained. "That way, we can tell where we've already been."

They mulled _that_ over for a while.

"It could work," Tori said.

"Agreed," Michael agreed.

Pip nodded.

"Let's roll, then," Tori said, rubbing her hands together.

They started walking toward the door. Jake got up, and they filled him in as they left the room.

"A plan," he muttered. "I like plans."

"Coulda fooled me," Michael said under his breath. Jake shoved him lightly.

Shelly, who covered the group's rear, noticed this and smirked.

The group walked through the hallways for what seemed like an eternity. Michael and Jake left a blotch of ink on the walls every time they took a turn.

After they were walking for a while, Michael spoke up. "Where the hell is the exit?" he griped.

Jake shoved him again. "Jeez, dude, we're all in the same boat here. We got it, okay?"

"I'm just saying what everyone's thinking!" Michael shot back. "Do they need a base that's so damn huge?"

"Children," Tori called behind her. "Behave. Can we talk about something worthwhile?"

"I got something," Shelly said.

"Shoot."

"Where is everyone?"

Tori slowed a little at that. "You're right…" she muttered.

"We've been walking for a few hours," Shelly continued. "And there hasn't been a single guard."

"Maybe they're working on missions?" Pip supplied lamely.

"But they know we're here," Tori said. "Why wouldn't-"

"Shh," Michael said. "Do you hear that?"

"Dammit, Michael," Jake said. "I know you're bored, but-"

"I'm serious, asshole!" Michael hissed. "It's… a rumble or something."

Everyone stopped moving. "I don't hear anything," Jake said.

"No, he's right," Shelly said. It's coming from behind us."

Everyone looked back. There was nothing there.

Suddenly, a giant yellow ball covered in ink came into view. An Octotrooper sat underneath a glass dome inside it as the ball started rolling towards them.

"Th-That's an Octoballer!" Pip screamed.

"I don't care what it's called!" Michael yelled as he ran by. Everyone else followed him.

Tori chanced a look behind her. "It's gaining on us!"

They kept running from it. They soon came across a fork in the hallway.

"It can't turn!" Pip shouted. "We're close!"

The Octoballer was right on their heels. It was dangerously close to crushing them when they finally made it to the fork in the road.

The Octoballer slammed into the wall with a great deal of force. The noise was ear-splitting, and dust was shook from the ceiling.

Jake was thrown to the ground. When the noise died down and his ears stopped ringing, he got up and looked around.

Michael and Pip were lying in similar positions. From where he was standing, it looked like they were fine, but something was missing.

"Tori?" he called out frantically. "Tori?! Where are you?!"

"Jake?" He heard her voice call out faintly.

"Tori?" he shouted. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here!" she cried.

"Shelly?!" Michael yelled, startling Jake. "Shelly!"

"She's here too!" Tori said. "We're fine!"

"Hold on," Jake said, picking up his Hero Shot. "I'm coming!"

He shot the slight bit of ground in between the Octoballer and the wall, but the ink disappeared.

"What the hell?" he muttered. He tried to swim in the gap anyway, but he was pushed away by an unseen force. "I can't get through it."

"There's a force field," Pip said. "You won't be able to get close enough to get to the other side."

"Dammit!" Jake shouted. "Tori, can you get through here?"

There was silence for a moment. "I don't wanna leave Shelly alone over here," she replied. "And you guys need to keep Pip safe for me."

"...I got it," Michael said. "You guys keep going. We'll go this way and meet up again later."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jake said. "We can't just leave them there! If we both keep moving, it'll take forever to find them again!"

"And if we keep moving, we double our chances of finding the exit," Michael retorted. "We need to get going."

He gestured toward Pip, who was looking back and forth between the two nervously.

"See? You upset her," Michael said.

Jake glared at him. "Fine. Let's go." He left a blot of ink on the wall and started walking off.

On the other side, Tori listened to Jake stomping in the other direction and turned to Shelly. "Well, guess it's just us now."

Shelly nodded, and tossed a Burst Bomb at the wall in front of them. She threw a look back at Tori and cocked her head toward the hallway.

"Yeah," Tori said. "Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

Their footsteps echoed down the eerily quiet hallway. There wasn't a soul in sight. It was pretty creepy, Tori thought.

Not least of all, of course, because Shelly hadn't said a word since they got separated from the group. She knew the girl was quiet, but this was getting ridiculous.

"So!" she said after a while. Shelly turned toward her.

"Um… what's up?" Tori asked. Shelly arched one eyebrow in response.

"Oh, come on," she continued. "It's creeping me out how quiet is in here. Talk to me. Please."

"About?" came the reply, finally.

"Anything. Anything to break this silence."

Shelly went silent again, and Tori thought she was gonna keep ignoring her when she spoke once more. "The boys."

Tori blinked. "What about them?"

Another pause. "What do you think they're doing?"

"Arguing," Tori replied at once. "Or… maybe they're trying not to because Pip is there. If she wasn't there, someone probably would've spotted them by now."

Shelly smirked at that. "They're loud."

"A lot more than you, at least," Tori replied.

"It has its perks."

More silence. "So how do you know Michael?" Tori asked.

"Met him a year and a half ago. He joined our squad and we found out he was Agent 3. We got to a spot kinda like this with some other friends. His sister got taken by the Octarians and we rescued her." Pause. "That's about it, I think."

Tori nodded along through the whole story. "Good job, then. Where was the spot?"

"It was called the Presidio."

"I've heard of it. Never been."

"It fell into a chasm."

"Sounds about right."

More silence for a bit. "Who were the other people you went with?" Tori asked.

"My squadmates, Randy and Angela. An Octoling named Junko. The Squid Sisters."

"You guys know the Squid Sisters?" Tori asked, surprised.

"Michael introduced us," Shelly explained.

Another pause. "He seems like a decent guy," Tori said. "You two are close, then."

"I guess."

"How close?"

Shelly thought about how best to answer that. "Good friends."

"And nothing more?"

"Nope."

Tori shook her head. "I don't believe a word of that."

Shelly raised one eyebrow quizzically.

"You like him."

"He's my friend."

Tori shook her head again. "You know what I mean. I'm not blind. I saw a little spark between you two."

A _very_ faint blush coloured Shelly's cheeks. "We're just friends."

"Admit it," Tori prodded. "You'll feel better."

The blush grew a little. "Don't tell him. Please."

Tori grinned. "I think he might feel the same, you know. He seemed to get a lot happier when you walked into that room."

Shelly shook her head. "I helped him."

"I doubt that's the only reason."

The blush deepened a little more.

"Alright, I'm done," Tori declared. "You can tell him when you're ready."

Shelly looked grateful.

The walk continued in silence again. After a while, Shelly held up one hand and stopped. Tori followed suit. Shelly started to charge her weapon and aimed it down the hallway in front of her. After a moment, she shot a pointed look at Tori.

"Oh, right," she said. Tori projected her voice down the hall. "Whoever you are, show yourself!"

Footsteps started to sound, getting louder and louder every second. A figure started to come into view, hands raised to shoulder height.

"Wait," Tori said. "I think I know who it is."

Shelly gave her a sideways glance, but didn't lower her weapon.

"Lilac?" Tori called. "Lilac, is that you?"

Indeed, the figure turned out to be Lilac. She kept her hands raised. "I'm not gonna hurt you," she began.

"Why are you here?" Tori asked.

"I changed my mind. I want to come with you."

Shelly scoffed quietly. Tori shot her a look. "What changed your mind?"

"The lieutenant," she said bitterly. "Everyone got interrogated, like they didn't trust any of us. It's been like that for a while and I'm finally fed up."

There was silence for a moment.

"Can I put my arms down now? They're getting tired."

"Do you have a weapon?" Shelly asked.

Lilac pulled out an Octoshot. Shelly held out one hand and beckoned her. Lilac obliged, and placed the weapon into her outstretched hand.

"There," Shelly said. "But you're staying where I can see you."

Lilac narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. "Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

With that, they continued their walk.

"What'd they say?" Tori asked.

"I don't know," Lilac said. "I ran out before anyone got to me. But I saw what happened to everyone else. Some of them got hurt."

Tori didn't know what to say to that.

"Turn left here," Lilac said suddenly.

They stopped. Tori looked at her. "Why here?"

"We're trying to get out, right? The exit is that way."

Tori's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, how can you even tell that? Every single fork in the road here looks the same to me."

"I've been here a while," Lilac replied simply.

Shelly's eyes narrowed. "I don't buy it."

"Who's been stuck here with nothing to do for months?" Lilac shot back. "When you've walked down the same halls a couple hundred times, you remember these things."

Tori gave Shelly a pleading look, and they turned left.

The walk continued once again, with no more excitement for a while. Eventually, however, they came across a wall that had splotches of blue ink on them.

"Do you think the others went this way?" Tori asked. Shelly shrugged in response. She took a step in the direction the ink was facing and would've fallen over if Tori hadn't run over to catch her.

"Shelly?! Are you alright?!" Tori asked her, alarmed.

Shelly's eyes were closing. It looked like it was taking a serious effort to keep them open. Her E-Liter dropped to the floor with a thump.

"We've been walking for hours," Tori said to herself. "And she's been carrying this big weapon…"

"We should probably rest," Lilac said.

Tori nodded. "We shouldn't be out in the open, though. C'mon." With Lilac's help, she carried Shelly into a nearby empty room, and laid the E-Liter next to her.

"Keep… moving…" Shelly mumbled, half-asleep.

"You need to rest," Tori whispered. "I'll keep watch, okay? We'll keep moving again in a few hours."

Shelly nodded, and soon drifted off. Lilac sat next to her. "I'm getting pretty tired too…" she said.

Tori nodded. "Go ahead. I can keep watch by myself. I'll wake you guys up if someone's coming."

Lilac nodded sleepily, and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Tori picked up Shelly's E-Liter. It was even heavier than she expected. She had no idea how a small girl like Shelly could carry the thing.

She quickly figured out the charging mechanism, and sat down, keeping her eyes on the door.

Nothing to it but to wait.

 **[A/N] Long wait for a short chapter. Go figure.**

 **Next one is gonna focus on Jake, Michael, and Pip. It'll happen at the same time as this chapter, and will probably end the same way.**


	6. Chapter 6

**[A/N] Look at that, I'm not dead. Sorry about that whole wait there. I'd love to say I had an excuse, but school's been easy and work doesn't get in my way much. I've been playing more games than I really should be during my free time instead of working on this, but at least it's here now.**

It was getting pretty frustrating, walking through corridor after identical corridor. Michael had no idea what was the right direction, and the others weren't helping him much.

Their collective mood wasn't exactly great, either. Both of the boys wore scowls, and Pip was expecting another argument to break out any second.

She was right. The boys looked in two different directions at the same time when they came to a crossroads.

"You're trying to lead us in circles," Michael accused.

"I'm _trying_ to find the girls," Jake retorted. "You might've forgotten, but that's a little important!"

"If we find the exit first, we can mark the way back and lead them there."

"And if we find the girls, then maybe they've found it already!"

"Our chances of finding a way out are still better if we're split up for now!" He put an emphasis on his next few words. "We can find them later. They'll be fine."

Pip was watching the whole exchange helplessly, afraid to say anything to interrupt.

"Fine," Jake said at last. "Have it your way, genius. But if anything happens to Tori, I swear, you'll live to regret it."

Michael rolled his eyes, and they went left. He made sure to leave a splash of ink on the wall.

He figured it would be better to let the whole thing go. Pip couldn't be very comfortable with this, he thought. He turned back to look at her. She was staring at the two of them with wide eyes.

Michael turned back to Jake and tried to catch his eye. When he did, he jerked his head back toward Pip. Jake glanced back at her and his expression softened.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Say it to her," Michael told him.

Jake turned back to Pip again and repeated the word. Pip's expression didn't change, but she nodded.

"Do you know where we should be going, Pip?" Michael asked.

"N-no, I never really walked around here much," Pip replied. She was still a little wary. Hard not to be, considering everything she'd been taught about Inklings over the years. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

And so they walked. Occasionally, now, they would hear footsteps, and they'd have to hide in a room until they went past.

"Dammit, now it seems like we're going deeper!" Jake complained. "You think we should double back?"

Michael considered this point. "We're lost either way. It couldn't hurt."

They returned to a previous intersection, and went in a different direction this time. It didn't take long for them to pass a room that had a curious dotted line running out of it.

"Crap," Michael and Jake said at the same time.

"Looks like we'll have to go back again," Jake said.

Pip didn't say anything for a second. She was deep in thought.

The boys turned to leave at the same time before they realized Pip wasn't following them.

"I think I can distract him," she said.

Jake's eyebrows shot up. "You don't have any weapons."

"Don't need them."

The boys grinned, and Jake gestured for her to go ahead. Pip took a breath and stepped in the doorway.

They heard a deep gurgling voice saying something unintelligible, and a jet of magenta-coloured ink splashed over Pip's body harmlessly. Pip responded in the same gurgling voice, trying to sound friendly. A moment later, she stepped inside. After a few moments, Jake peaked inside.

The Octosniper had its back to the door, and was apparently talking to Pip, who could just be seen behind it. She flicked her eyes to Jake before returning her attention to the Octosniper. He gave her a thumbs up before sneaking past the gap. He motioned for Michael to follow, and he did.

A few minutes later, Pip finished her conversation and joined them outside. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

"That was awesome, Pip," Michael said.

She smiled at him in response. "Thanks…"

"What were you talking about?"

"I asked for directions."

Jake perked up at that. "Like to the exit?"

She nodded. "Let's see..."

She rattled off a laundry list of directions. The boys blinked in surprise.

"You remembered all that?" Jake asked incredulously.

Pip smiled shyly. "Follow me."

And off she went. The boys were close on her heels.

They passed all sorts of different rooms on the way, including another room full of respawn pads. It was full of Octolings, more than the room where Pip and Lilac were held. A few were pacing, but most looked idle. They all had a dejected look on their faces. Pip stopped and watched them sadly.

Jake noticed and put a hand on her shoulder. "We can't help everyone," he told her gently.

She barely seemed to hear him. "They're all just like me…" she whispered.

"I know," Jake replied. "But we need to keep moving."

Pip was silent for a moment as they walked away from the room. "It's not fair," she said quietly.

Michael looked at her sympathetically. "It's not," he agreed. "But trying to get everyone out of here would be suicide. Someone would be bound to recognize us."

Pip nodded. "I know… let's keep going." She trudged ahead. The boys shared a look and followed her.

They kept walking, and made the necessary turns. The boys continued to follow Pip, and they kept hiding whenever someone else came down their corridors. Some time later – it could've been minutes or hours, for all they could tell – Pip fell down. The boys hurried forward to check on her. She tried to get up, but failed.

Michael swore under his breath. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Pip's stomach growled audibly, and her eyelids fluttered. She didn't have to say a word.

Michael lifted her onto his back, and they entered a nearby room.

"She's hungry and tired," Jake concluded.

"Thanks, tips," Michael replied sarcastically.

Jake made a face. "I'll try and find something for her to eat. You stay here and make sure she gets to sleep."

"You're going by yourself?"

"Someone's gotta watch her. She's too important."

Michael nodded. "Try and be fast."

"Thanks, tips," Jake replied, just as sarcastically. With that, he left.

Michael turned his attention to Pip, who shivered a little. She was curled up in a little ball.

"D-did you guys make any turns…?" she asked weakly.

"Shh," Michael shushed. "Try to sleep. You need it."

Pip obediently closed her eyes, and then the room was silent except for her breathing.

Michael allowed her head to relax on his lap. He hoped Jake would come back soon.

{asterisks}

The room appeared to be a cafeteria of some sort. At least, that's what it looked closest to. He tried not to think about it too much. Jake snuck inside, carefully avoiding the gazes of a few Octotroopers. He would've preferred to just splat them, but that would leave evidence.

He made his way to the opposite end of the room and entered what appeared to be a pantry. There were heaps of cheap goods, but Jake had no time to be picky. He grabbed whatever he could carry that looked edible, and used the same route to leave the room. The second time was trickier, since he couldn't use his squid form without dropping all the food, but he was pretty sure he made it, even if the Octotroopers looked his way a couple times.

Once he was out of the room, he bolted back the way he came. He tried to make as few turns as possible on the way there so it'd be easier to find the way back after.

So far, so good. No one was following him. He turned a corner…

…and was greeted by an army of Octarians. He skidded to a halt. He whipped his head around, and saw another group behind him.

"Well, shit," he muttered.

A figure made its way to the front of one of the groups; Alanis, the Octoling lieutenant.

"What's this?" she asked. "A little mouse trying to scurry away with our food?"

"You watch too many action movies," Jake retorted.

She didn't bother responding to that. "Now, would you be so kind as to tell us where your little friends are hiding?"

Jake didn't respond to that. He stayed silent.

"Oh well," Alanis said, shrugging. "I'm a patient woman. I can wait until you decide to tell me. Or… maybe I can try to persuade you."

Jake bared his teeth and drew his Hero Shot as Alanis watched him smugly. He pointed it directly at her before dashing forward.


	7. Chapter 7

Tori's eyes finally opened. She had been out for a while. She blinked a little and looked around the room, trying to remember what was happening.

Right, that was it. They stopped to sleep. She stretched, and noticed Lilac watching her with a smile.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she said. Tori returned the smile, and looked over at Shelly. She was staring at the door, almost unmoving, but glanced to the side when Lilac spoke. She muttered a greeting.

"Well!" Tori said, clapping her hands together. "Shall we?"

The others nodded, and they left the room. Lilac turned them left, and the three girls continued. Shelly made sure to cover their backs.

They were all ready for another long walk, but it wasn't long before they heard frantic footsteps coming their way. Tori looked around, but she couldn't see a room anywhere. She looked over at Shelly, who nodded and aimed her weapon down the hall as it began to charge.

To their surprise, the figure moving toward them was not an Octarian, but was actually Michael, who was carrying Pip on his back. Shelly's eyes widened, and she lowered her weapon.

He stopped in front of them, panting. "F… found you…"

Tori's mind had so many questions, they were fighting to get asked first. The one that came out first was "Where's Jake?"

"Easy…" he said. "Gimme a… wait, he's not with you?"

She shook her head. Lilac moved forward and took Pip from his arms.

"I thought… I thought he found you… and that's why he didn't come back. Anyway… it's good to see you."

The walk continued. Everyone took turns carrying Pip (except Shelly) as they caught each other up on what happened.

Tori chewed her lip. "That's not good."

"You can say that again," Michael said. "It looks like we can't leave just yet."

The walk continued, but with a sense of unease in the air now.

"We getting close, Pip?" Tori asked.

Pip nodded weakly in response. "Not too much farther…"

Lilac looked at her worriedly. "We need to get her something…"

Just then, they turned a corner and stared at the mess in front of them.

The hallway before them was covered in violent splashes of ink. There were giant spots of blue and purple all over the place. In addition, small cans and bottles were strewn about the hall.

Michael picked up one can by his feet. "I think it's food…" he said, barely audible to the others.

"Then…" Tori trailed off, staring at everything. "He was…"

Lilac tore open the can. "It's nothing too great, but it'll do," she said. She held it up to Pip, who scooped out a bit of fish and ate it.

Tori barely registered what she said. "They have him…"

Michael swore under his breath. Shelly stared straight ahead, apparently at nothing in particular.

A pair of purple footsteps led off in one direction, but stopped after a few steps. Tori set off in the direction they were facing.

"Tori…" Lilac warned.

"Got a better idea?" Tori shot back. She continued, and the others followed. Lilac stooped to pick up a few cans before going with them, and Pip kept eating. It looked like she was getting her strength back.

"That's the wrong way…" Pip protested.

"I don't care," Tori said solemnly. "Jake is our first priority."

"Be sensible," Lilac argued. "If we follow Pip's directions-"

"I'm not arguing with you!" Tori cried. "We're finding him, and that's final!"

"Dammit, Tori!" Lilac shouted. Pip flinched. "You're not thinking straight! We can come back for him later!

"He might not have a chance if we come back later!" Tori retorted. "I'm not leaving him behind! I can't!"

Lilac growled. "You've changed."

"You haven't. It's a shame." And she kept walking. The others followed, though Lilac seemed a bit slow.

This time, the scenery seemed to change. As the group got further into the facility, the walls started to look more deteriorated, with lots of rust and bent foundations. To top it off, the sound of twisted metal could occasionally be heard.

Michael shivered. "This is giving me the creeps."

Lilac stared at their surroundings. "I've never seen this place before…"

Shelly shot her a look, but said nothing.

Suddenly, an agonizing scream echoed down the corridor.

"Jake!" Tori yelled. She dashed forward. Luckily, this particular hall was straight, so there was only one place the sound could be coming from.

A big door was at the end of the hallway, and Tori reached it before anyone else. She desperately struggled to push it open, all while Jake's screams of pain were still filling her ears.

"Help!" she choked out. Michael and Lilac stepped forward, and the three of them pushed with all their might. It took a while, but the door eventually swung open.

Inside was a dim, dank cell. A flickering lightbulb hung from the ceiling, and there was a solid metal wall in front of them with a hole that divided the two halves of the room. The hole was about big enough that Tori could stick her hand through it.

She looked inside, and saw him. Jake was lying on the ground, curled up in a little ball and whimpering pathetically. His clothes were torn, and dozens of cuts were on his skin. There was a small dribble of blood coming out of his mouth.

"Jake!" Tori cried out. He looked up.

"T… Tori…?" he said in a hoarse voice. "You're… safe…?"

She nodded, tears starting to form in her eyes. "How can I help?" she asked.

He slowly got up, and took a few shaky steps toward her, leaning heavily on the stone wall next to him. "You gotta…" he began. That was all he got out before dropping to his knees and coughing violently. More blood came out of his mouth.

Before Tori could say anything, he rose again, and kept walking toward her. "Please…" he whispered. He held out one hand, and Tori did the same, hoping to soothe him however she could.

Her hand passed right through him, and he suddenly stopped moving. She blinked in surprise, and looked closer at the room he was in.

A small device with a shiny sphere on it lay in the middle of the room, projecting a thin cone of light. The image of Jake flickered and disappeared.

"Dammit!" Tori cried. She fell to her knees.

"Oh, no." The mocking voice of Lieutenant Alanis boomed through the speakers. "So close…"

She could no longer fight the tears, and Tori started crying uncontrollably as everyone watched.

"You'll never find him," Alanis said in a singsong tone. "You might come close, but I'll always keep him away."

"Tori, she's just trying to psyche you out," Michael said, trying to reassure her.

Alanis' voice sighed. "Am I?" she asked. There was a moment of feedback, and then another voice became clear.

"Guh…" it said. "Let her… go…"

Tori looked up. "Jake…?"

"You gotta… you gotta get outta here, Tori…" he pleaded. "Forget about me… I'm damn near gone… Please…"

"Aww, what a cute widdle hero we have here," Alanis said. "Trying to save his widdle friends. I intend to kill you no matter what, punk. If I can get more of them, then good for me."

There was a loud cracking sound, and then Jake let out another scream of pain. Tori cried out.

"I'll give you a hint," Alanis said. "Go back outside. Good luck." The cracking sound happened again, and Jake screamed once more before the sound cut off.

It took some time to recover from that stunning scene, but Tori eventually gathered herself and walked back through the small doorway. There was a new passage that wasn't there before, and it seemed to be even older.

"It's a trap," Shelly warned.

Tori shook her head, and set off.


	8. Chapter 8

The hallway seemed to go on forever, and seemed to get older the further they walked. More of the passage seemed to be rusted, but the floor stayed sturdy. There was no noise except for their footsteps, and no one said a word. The air was thick with tension.

Tori's senses were on high alert, waiting and hoping for _anything_ that might tip her off to where Jake was being held. However, there was nothing except the walls extending as far as the eye could see. Their eyes had grown used to the dim lighting by now, but they hadn't come across any doors.

Finally, Michael broke the silence. "She's tricking us."

Tori paid him no heed. She couldn't afford to think like that, not if Jake was still alive.

Just as this thought was going through her head, the hallway ended abruptly. Tori looked around, confused. What was the purpose of this? She was sure they hadn't missed any other doors. She felt the old walls in front of her, hoping to find something she missed. As her frustration grew, tapping turned to slamming.

"Tori?"

She looked back at them, suddenly aware of the tears on her face. Everyone was watching her sadly.

Tori shook her head in denial. "He… he can't be… I know it…"

She pounded the wall with her fist one more time, and dust fell from the ceiling. There was a sound of creaking metal, and the wall shifted a little before snapping back into place.

Tori stared at the wall, and hit it again. More dust fell, and she could feel the wall shift again.

She looked back again. "Help!"

Even before she spoke, they were moving forward. Everybody pushed on the door, but nothing happened.

Michael took a step back and rammed into it, and it shifted again.

"That should work!" Tori said. "At the same time, c'mon!" She stepped back and paused for a second. "One…"

Everyone else moved back to the same position.

"Two…"

Tori thought of how much pain Jake must be in right now, and how desperate she was to see him.

"THREE!"

The last word came out as a yell, and everyone rushed forward and slammed against the wall.

It must've been out of use for a very long time, since it didn't look remotely like a door, but it swung open anyway. The five of them burst into a large room.

It was even darker than the hallway they entered from, but Tori could just make out Jake. He was sitting against a wall on the far side of the room, and looked even worse than the hologram she'd seen earlier. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were shut.

Even as Shelly was about to voice a warning, Tori cried out his name and ran across the room. When she was halfway across, a strong blow struck her shoulder, and she was sent sprawling to the ground with an "oof!"

A second later, a length of pipe came flying out of nowhere and hit her knee, which was followed by Alanis. There was a knife in one hand and a small glass container in the other, and she moved around Tori at a quick pace, pressing the knife against her collar.

"Hello again," she said, her voice dripping sweet venom.

Michael started forward, but Alanis intensified her grip on the knife. Tori yelped, and when the knife was moved, there was a thin wound in its place.

"You're smart enough to know what'll happen here," she said.

Michael grimaced, and took a step back.

"That's better," Alanis said cheerfully. "Now, if you would…" She looked past them, and nodded.

Out of nowhere, Lilac whipped out the same kind of glass container that Alanis was holding and snaked one hand across Pip's mouth, effectively gagging her. Shelly immediately raised her weapon, but Lilac moved Pip in front to shield herself.

"Bitch," Shelly muttered. "I knew it."

"Now's your time to feel smug," Lilac shot back. Pip struggled against her, but she adjusted her grip so that the arm holding the glass container was across her neck, applying a bit of pressure.

Michael moved to Shelly's back, pointing his Hero Shot at Alanis.

"Lilac…" Tori said. "How could…"

"You don't get it, Tori!" she accused. "We've been down here for too long! Why should they be able to-"

"You can… leave…" Tori choked out. "Come with me… come to Inkopolis and-"

"That's not enough!" Lilac shouted. "They need to pay! I'm not going to let them run around up there while we have to stay underground, worrying about whether or not the next kettle is gonna collapse!"

"Exactly," Alanis purred. "There will be a full attack, and it'll be beautiful. _We'll_ rule the surface."

Behind them, Jake stirred. Michael's eyes flicked over to him, but instead of trying to get his attention, he asked "What's in the bottles?"

"It's a special formula we just developed," Alanis explained. "It's very good at dissolving liquids. And certain solids."

Tori's eyes darted around the room wildly, and she hoped that she could get a glimpse of Jake. She could barely see him, _just_ out the corner of her eye, but she couldn't tell if he was moving.

In fact, he was just waking up. His vision was a bit blurry, but he slowly lifted his head, staring at the scene in front of him. It took him a moment to process what was going on. When he did, he stayed quiet, but it didn't matter. Lilac was facing him, and noticed.

"Lieutenant," she said, nodding in Jake's direction.

Alanis' head whipped around to see that he was, in fact, awake. A smile spread across her face. Michael watched, his face unchanging, and nudged Shelly. "Well. Back for more, are we?"

Jake shuddered, remembering what he'd already been put through, but he didn't have to dwell on it for long. Before anyone could react, Michael had dashed forward, landed a few shots, and pulled Tori away. At the same moment, Shelly jerked her E-Liter upward and fired, hitting Lilac in the face. Her body dissolved.

Alanis got to her feet, growling, and started stalking towards the four of them. "That wasn't very-" She was cut off by a loud _whack_ , and her eyes went wide. She raised one hand to rub the back of her head, and was about to turn around when there was another _whack_ , and she crumpled to the floor.

Jake was standing behind her, breathing heavily. The length of pipe clattered to the floor, and he dropped to his knees, hard. He would've fallen over again, but Tori rushed forward and held him up. She pulled him into a hug, tears rushing down her face, basking in the feeling that she was holding him and it was _real_.

"T… Tori… thank goodness you're here…" he said between breaths.

"Shh…" she soothed. "You're with me now…"

Jake returned the hug as best he could.

They stayed like that for several long moments before Tori pulled away. "We… we should get out of here," she whispered. He nodded weakly, and tried to get up, but his legs buckled again and Tori had to catch him. Michael rushed forward to help, and the two of them hauled Jake to his feet.

"Pip, do you still remember the way out?" Tori asked.

Pip closed her eyes, thinking. "…Yes," she said, although she sounded uncertain.

Tori started to argue, but Michael shushed her. "It's the best we got."

Shelly peaked out the window, checking that the coast was clear, and Pip followed her immediately. Tori and Michael helped Jake find a good pace, and set off after them.

"We found the exit," Tori told him. "We'll be out soon, okay?"

"I… know," Jake said. "I was… there… Pip was really impressive…"

They helped him forward. Every step took an effort, but they moved about as fast as they could go under the circumstances. Shelly and Pip stayed ahead and made sure there was no one in their way, and Pip called out directions whenever they came to forks in the path.

Twice, they had to stop because Jake was in too much pain. It took longer than they would've preferred to finish their little journey, but eventually they made it to the end, rounding what Pip said was the last corner.

And, inevitably perhaps, they were greeted by a horde of Octarians. Alanis and Lilac were heading the group. Neither smiled. The group could see the kettle, so close yet so far away, behind the Octarians.

For the first time since they entered the facility, Alanis decided to skip the speech. "You're not leaving here," she said simply, and the Octarians moved towards the little group.


	9. Chapter 9

There was a single uneasy moment, before the fight started and after Alanis had said her piece, where Tori's mind was occupied by sheer terror, mixed with a bit of frustration. It didn't do much good for her to know that they had come so far and would be stopped when escape was, quite literally, within sight.

And it definitely didn't help that out of the five of them, Jake was injured, and there were only three weapons between everyone else. No matter how they looked at it, they were severely outnumbered. Tori picked up Jake's weapon as Pip helped to drag him backward a little, and it started.

The entire portion of the hall became a total mess almost immediately, with ink flying in every direction. Tori tried to act as a shield for Michael and Shelly as best she could, but there was so much ink in the air, and she couldn't be everywhere at once. She tried to focus most of her attention on Shelly, since she couldn't move around as much.

Luckily for her, Michael was doing a pretty good job dodging shots, despite how awful the visibility was. As he darted around, occasionally attempting to get closer and go on the offensive, Shelly was aiming at the biggest threats on the battlefield and felling an Octarian with every shot. To Tori's relief, she started with the longest-range attackers, the ones who had the greatest chance of hitting Jake.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Michael to take a couple hits, and while the effects were mostly mitigated by his occasional dipping into his own ink, Tori could tell he was slowing down. Shelly's aim was just as good as before, luckily. The near-solid mess of ink flying through the air was thinning fast, and soon, the only Octarians left were Lilac and Alanis. Shelly had tried to shoot the two of them down already, but both focused entirely on dodging rather than trying to attack with their brethren.

Neither made an attempt to move at first, but no one let down their guard. Shelly trained her weapon on the two of them, with Tori standing partly in front of her. Michael was off to one side, and Pip hesitated for a moment before leaving Jake where he was and stepping in front of Michael. They had a standoff on their hands.

Lilac scoffed at the sight. "I still can't believe you two are standing with _them_."

"Save it," Alanis growled. "There's no convincing them. Only punishment."

Jake groaned. Tori spared a look back at him before turning back towards the scene in front of them. "We're leaving."

"Not yet you're not."

And she charged. Shelly tried a shot, but Alanis dodged swiftly. It grazed Lilac, who jolted into action and charged as well.

Alanis tossed her weapon aside and launched herself at Tori first. She barely had time to raise her hands in a defensive gesture before she was upon her. Alanis darted around Tori, hitting her with a constant flurry of fists. Michael tried to aim his weapon, but before he could, Lilac had showed up too. She wasn't on the same level as Alanis by any means, but she was skilled enough to keep Michael on his toes. He had to defend himself before he could try to help out Tori.

Pip watched the fighting, unsure of how to intervene, but Shelly quickly dropped a Burst Bomb at Michael's feet. The explosion startled Lilac, and Michael tried to fire at her, but she recovered quickly and leapt out of the way.

Alanis, meanwhile, was raining punches and kicks on Tori for all she was worth. Tori was doing a pretty decent job blocking her, but the occasional hit still managed to slip through, and _man_ , did it sting. She wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer.

A patch of blue ink appeared on Alanis' forearm, and she dodged back, quickly ducking into the purple-coloured ink that still covered the room. As they watched, Lilac did the same.

There wasn't a sound. The hallway was eerily quiet, and everybody's senses were on high alert, waiting for something to happen.

A minute passed, then two. There was no sign of movement yet.

Michael turned to Shelly. "You think it's safe?"

Shelly was forming a reply when Alanis jumped out of nowhere with a loud scream, and landed right on top of her. She landed a few quick punches before jumping up, darting behind Michael, and whipping out the same glass container she held before, poised over his head.

Shelly had a shot charged and was about to fire when Alanis tilted the container very slightly. A drop of the solution came out, and where it hit Michael, a bit of steam rose. There was a quiet hissing noise, mixed with a grunt of pain.

"Drop it," Alanis growled. Shelly gave her a glare, but allowed her E-Liter to fall to the ground. A moment later, Lilac rose up and put Tori in the same position.

"This seems awfully familiar," Michael muttered.

"Save your breath," Alanis hissed. "And drop your weapon, too."

With a flick of his wrist, Michael tossed the Hero Shot away. Tori followed suit soon after. The two weapons fell near each other.

"Lilac," Tori murmured. "You can still stop this."

"Like hell," Lilac replied. "Stop trying to convert me, Tori. It's not gonna work." To drive the point home, she dripped a bit of the solution onto Tori's arm. She winced in pain.

Shelly stared at the two pairs, unable to do anything.

"I already said you wouldn't leave here," Alanis spat. "I mean it this time. There isn't a damn thing any of you can do to stop me."

Tori shot a pleading look over at Jake, but although he looked a bit better than before, he wasn't in any shape to save them again. They were too far away. He simply stared in horror at the five figures in front of him.

"Here's what we'll do," Alanis instructed. "You're going to follow us back into the facility. You're going to surrender any secrets you might be withholding, and you will not resist me one bit. After that, we'll do with you what we please."

No time was spared for theatrics or maniacal laughter. At her command, Alanis started to lead Michael back into the facility, undoing all of the work they'd done so far.

Then, out of nowhere, she exploded into blue ink. A frustrated screech could be heard as Pip stepped forward, holding the two Hero Shots. She stumbled a bit from the ink still sticking to her body, but she'd done what she needed to. Tori used the distraction to jam her elbow into Lilac's stomach, causing her to drop the container, and shoved her away quickly.

Michael sprinted back to grab Jake, hauling him over one shoulder, and all five of them ran toward the exit. Shelly picked up her E-Liter along the way. One by one, everyone started making their way through the kettle that led outside.

Tori went last. As she did, she saw Lilac stalking toward her, shouting incoherently. Her face was set in anger.

Tori hoped that she would've been different since Alanis was gone, but there was no such luck. She could only say "I'm sorry" before she left.

{asterisks}

She popped out of the kettle at the other end. "Come on!" she told the others. "I don't know if they'll chase us!"

They sprinted away from the kettle, running far away from the facility they had escaped from. They Super Jumped occasionally, and after some time, they found themselves back by the kettle that led to Inkopolis.

Finally, the group stopped. Everyone dropped for a rest, glad to be able to stop moving for a bit.

Tori made her way over to Jake. "How are you?" she asked worriedly.

"I've been better," Jake said with a hint of a grin. "But I oughta be fine. I just _look_ like hell."

Tori returned the smile, though there was the slightest hint of tears in her eyes.

Jake raised one hand to stroke her cheek. "C'mon," he whispered. "Don't be like that." He pulled her in, gently kissing her lips.

Tori's eyes started to water again, and tears stained her cheeks as she kissed him back. It was the first time she'd done it since they'd entered the facility, she realized, and she couldn't stand to let him go just yet.

Michael watched the scene with a little smile of his own. "They seem happy," he said to no one in particular.

"Mhm."

He jolted, suddenly realizing that Shelly was next to him. She was staring as well.

"Gotta say, I'm a little jealous," Michael commented. "They seem to have something really special."

"Is that right?"

"Mm. I wonder what it might be like to-" He cut himself off. "Shelly? What's up?"

She had a stony expression on her face, as if she were thinking hard. After a moment, she looked at him.

Shelly tried to think of some good words to say in this sort of situation, she really did, but nothing came to mind.

Instead, she took hold of his collar with both hands, and pulled him in for a kiss of her own.

Michael's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. It took some time, but his eyes eventually fluttered closed, and he began to kiss her back. He wasn't the most skilled, but it still felt like fireworks going off in his mind. He could barely believe that he was actually _kissing_ her.

Shelly was in much the same boat as he was. Neither wanted to be the first to pull away, so the kiss continued for nearly a minute before it ended naturally. They came apart, panting, and stayed in a close embrace.

"Shelly, I-"

She cut him off with a finger over his lips. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

Michael got a goofy grin on his face. "Are you kidding? I feel like I could fly."

Shelly got a small smile to match his. "Wanna go out somewhere?"

He kissed her lips again. "Of course." He took her hands in his and couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping his mouth.

Jake had one arm around Tori, and they both watched the scene with a little smile. "They're pretty cute together."

She hummed in agreement. Pip came to sit next to them, and Tori put another arm around her shoulders. "What are you gonna do, Pip?"

She thought about that. "Hmmm… I don't wanna hafta stay with you guys. I think I'll try and live on my own for a bit."

"Is that right?" Tori asked. "Stepping out of your comfort zone, hm?"

Pip nodded in response. "And I really wanna try these Turf Wars."

Tori grinned. "They're a ton of fun. You'll love 'em. Talk to Sheldon and he'll hook you right up."

Pip turned to her with a face-splitting grin. "Thank you, Tori. A lot."

Tori tousled her tentacles a bit. "I'll give you our address, 'kay? If you ever need help, we'll give you whatever you need."

Jake mumbled an assent, and Pip hugged Tori tightly.

It looked like things were ending pretty nicely after all.

 **[A/N] That was the longest story (in terms of chapters) that I've written in a long time, and it feels pretty good to know that it's finished.**

 **So, what's next? Well, as usual, my current projects can be viewed on my profile. Specifically, the Fire Emblem story I just started, Grand Hero? Battle, is something I'll be keeping my eye on. I also have one or two more stories in the works, but that's the one I'm gonna be focusing on for now.**

 **Thank you all for coming along for the ride.**


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